'Human disco ball' on big Bristol run for refugee charity

A human rights lawyer is running 1,553 miles (2,500 km) as a disco ball in support of refugees and asylum seekers.

Freya Morgan has already hit the 559-mile (900 km) mark across 95 runs to raise £100,000 for the charity Bail for Immigration Detainees (BiD).

The 27-year-old, who set up the project alongside her friend and lawyer Aaron Rajesh, said it has been the "biggest challenge" of her life.

She said: "It all starts and ends with community."

Ms Morgan, from London, has been documenting the runs on Instagram and hopes to make some headway with a 124-mile (200 km) run from Bristol to London in June.

The human rights lawyer plans to run 1,553 miles (2,500 km) for charity

"For me, it's the most meaningful thing you can do - put your time and your energy into the causes you care about," she said.

"And it's given me incredible perspective."

Ms Morgan began the runs in January after being inspired to "change the story" around refugees and asylum seekers.

She is raising money for BiD, which provides free legal advice and representation to those held in detention across the UK.

As part of the campaign, Ms Morgan has also led disco warm up sessions for runners in competitions

The cause has surpassed £3,500 in donations to keep the human disco ball campaign rolling, hosting a Blue Monday 5k as well as teaming up with UK-based running event organisation RunThrough to put on disco warm-ups.

After several disco ball suit prototypes and some "horrendous chafing", Ms Morgan has managed to find the perfect suit with stick-on mirror glass to run in through a "trial and error" process.

"People love it," she said.

"It makes them smile, they love having pictures with it.

"It's quite a nice way to start talking to someone and explain why you're doing it as well," she added.

To coincide with Mental Health Awareness Week in the UK, running from May 15-21, the human disco ball campaign has launched a virtual event and asked others to donate and get out by running or walking five kilometres.